The Intermittent Blog

Due to popular demand I am posting my two go-to recipes for energy bars. I primarily use them as fuel for my long runs and they seem to work very well for me. Most if not all of these ingredients can be modified to fit your dietary requirements so experiment away.

Apple Pie Caveman Bars

Place your dates, macadamia nuts, apples, and almonds in a food processor or really strong blender. I have a Ninja 1100 and it makes short work of this one

Pulse until your dates, macadamia nuts, and almonds are in small chunks and transfer to a mixing bowl

Add in all remaining ingredients. Using your hands mix well to ensure an even coating of everything

Once mixed, using parchment paper, flatten out your mixture to the size of bars your want or you can use individual ziploc bags and form them inside the bag

Place in refrigerator and let cool, then enjoy

If these don’t taste like apple pie to you, then play with the spices, you can add some nutmeg or cloves and mix the flavors around. The possibilities are endless.

***If you have a macadamia nut allergy, replace them with any nut of your choice. You can just up the almonds. You can also roast all the nuts prior for a different flavor***

Homemade Energy Bars

(by Nancy Clark, MS, RD for Active.com)Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted dry-roasted peanuts

1/2 cup raisins, cranberries or other dried fruit

1/2 cup roasted sunflower seed kernels

2 cups raw oatmeal, quick or old fashioned

2 cups toasted rice cereal

1/2 cup peanut butter, crunchy or creamy

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup rice syrup or honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

Process:

In a large bowl, mix together the peanuts, raisins, sunflower seed kernels, oatmeal and toasted rice cereal. Set aside.

IN a medium microwaveable bowl, combine peanut butter, brown sugar, and syrup. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir until blended.

Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until coated.

Spoon it inot an oiled 9"x13" pan. Press down firmly.

***I find that this mix by itself usually comes out too dry. To fix this I usually increase the peanut butter and dribble in more honey during the blending part until I feel that the mixture is sticky enough to press firmly down into a pan. I always have extra crumbs though which I use as a messy snack or eat like it's cereal.

In Kiiko style acupuncture (a Japanese style of acupuncture handed down over generations), it teaches that ofttimes when acupuncture points that you feel should work but do not, there is a blockage in the body that is preventing the healing process.

I have been working on a patient recently who has some unusual medial knee pain. The pain started above the joint and extended a few inches up the leg. I am pretty sure it is not meniscus related but with some testing could not really differentiate between the gracilis or quad tendons in that area. The patient told me that they have using the leg press and leg adductor machines at the gym and that the pain is worse when moving the leg into a sitting-cross-legged position. The patient had first tried to self-treat by using moxa (herbal heat) and herbal patches but with little result. When I first saw this patient her chief complaint was actually back pain, but the knee issue came up and we began to treat them concurrently.

After several visits, the back pain was reduced significantly, but the knee pain was pretty stubborn and the pain reduction was insignificant.

In keeping with Kiiko's teachings, I re-checked the patient's basic constitution and found that the "adrenal" points (trigger points in a sense) were quite sensitive. So far, with several treatments behind us, I am finding that addressing the adrenals (calming the "fight or flight" response) has been thee most effective in reducing the patient's pain. Each visit has ended with the patient unable to replicate the pain. The pain comes back in a few days, but has been less with each visit. Stuff like this is what makes acupuncture so fascinating. Why would this work? It wouldn't surprise me in the least that with our stressful lifestyles, it is inhibiting our natural abilities to heal. A good reminder to find the time to slow down whether it be through qigong, meditation, tai qi, or as simple as taking the time to sit down with a good book.

My patient is still continuing to see me and I am excited to see how we progress in the next few weeks.